Okay, I just finished watching No.6 today (or yesterday, technically, cuz it's 1 am) and I got the idea for this and had to get it out before it killed me! Gaaaah! But I promise to finish the next chapter of Yes, Mr. Tutor next! LD

Anyways, here we go!

I do not own No.6 or its characters. :C

The First Attempt

About a year and a half had passed since the tragedy of the Holy Day and the destruction of what once was No.6. Since then, people from the West District and the No.6 residents worked together to rebuild what was lost, and create something new. They no longer celebrated the Holy Day. No, the new holiday was the Day of Rebirth, a clean slate, a fresh start for everyone.

My mother left the bakery to me and went on to help everyone create the new city, one that wouldn't be governed by secrets and corruption. I was proud to see her passionately trying to prevent history from repeating itself.

Of course, I was busy with my own, new life. The orphaned child I saved, was about two and full of curiosity and life, which made her quite the handful. And, of course there was the bakery. For the first few months my mother had to make time to teach me the proper techniques for baking her menu items. They never did taste as good as hers, but they weren't awful once I got the hang of it.

No matter how busy my life was, not one day didn't pass where I did think of Safu, how she died in the destruction of the city, or how I awoke to her voice. And then I would think of Nezumi. That irritating, arrogant, rude, wonderful, perfect, man who I had not seen in over a year. As much as I missed having my best friend around, my heart still ached for that one person that I would never bare to lose.

He was still alive, at least I knew that. Occasionally his robot rat would come with a pill bottle letter telling me something trivial, like he found a pond with the flowers I was named after or that he found a weird looking frog somewhere. They were stupid, inane, but they were the only contact with him that I had. I knew it was his secret way of telling me not to worry, he was alright and would be back. At least that's what I assumed since he said he no more "goodbye" kisses and that he wouldn't lie anymore. That kiss… it was my last hope that Nezumi would return one day. I missed him so much…

Little did I know, but that day was just around the corner.

It happened on a Tuesday, close to the time I usually closed up the shop. I was gathering up the dirty trays to wash and use for the next day, when I heard a tiny squeak, different from Hamlet or Moonlit's. I looked down and there it was, the robot mouse, holding the little pill bottle in its mouth. I quickly took it and read the small writing. It said two things:

Go outside.

Look up.

Confused, I did as the letter said, but all I saw was the sign, clouds, and sky. With a sigh, I looked back down and jumped in surprise. There he was! Nezumi stood in front of me with that trademark smirk of his and amusement shining in his eyes.

"You're awfully jumpy, Shion," he chuckled softly.

I finally regained my composure enough to send him a half hearted glare. "Well, it's not like it's normal for people to pop up in another person's face!"

He just continued smirking and raised and eyebrow at me. Of course, I couldn't keep up that face for long and I finally smiled softly at him.

"It's good to see you, Nezumi…"

"Are you going to turn into a sap on me?"

"Oh, shut up!" I laughed and turned to walk into the store, Nezumi following close behind.

I stopped at a table and smiled at what I saw; tiny, cherry cakes, all portioned out and ready to be eaten. So, I picked up the tray and held it in front of my friend. "Try one! I made them."

He took a slice and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully. "Disgusting."

I would have been insulted if I hadn't known he was lying again. "Really? You seem to be enjoying it an awful lot if it's so disgusting."

He just shot me a look, took another bite, and shoved a different piece of pie into my mouth. "Shut up," he huffed in reply.

I laughed around the slice and took a bite. It definitely wasn't like my mom's cooking, but it was passable.

"Where have you been, Nezumi?" I asked finally, unable to hold the question in any longer.

He shrugged and leaned against the counter. "Here and there," was his dismissive reply.

My heart sank a little knowing that he wouldn't confide that information with me and I put the tray back down.

"Why now? Why did you come back?" I asked while I suddenly found my shoes to be incredibly fascinating.

"I said no more 'goodbye' kisses, didn't I?"

My head shot up to meet his gaze, hardly believing that he remembered saying that from so long ago. His eyes and smile softened when he looked at me and I felt my heart rate pick up. Those eyes, blue-grey, with a depth to them that seemed to bore into my soul… they were beautiful. I hadn't realized how much I missed just simply looking at him. Eating with him, laughing, shopping, reading, listening to him sing, those simple things that he wanted to do again.

"Nezumi, I…"

But my sentence was cut off by a loud cry on the second floor, and I hurried up.

"You kept the child? I was wondering what Dogkeeper did with it," Nezumi mused as he watched me rock her in my arms to calm her down.

"The dog brought her to me after you left. I named her Ophelia."

I shot Nezumi a look, hoping to convey the meaning behind such a name, which seemed to work. He coughed awkwardly and looked away.

"I have to go…" he mumbled and my heart filled with dread.

"Again? So soon? Nezumi, why don't you stay? You know you are always welcome here." I tried not to sound like I was begging, but I didn't want to lose him again after just getting him back!

"I'm sorry," was all he said before he crossed the room and kissed me again.

I cradled Ophelia carefully against my chest between us as I basked in the feeling of his lips against mine; chapped, yet smooth, and firm, yet soft. It was perfect, until he pulled away. He sent a me a wry, little smile before he turned and left.

Just like that, he was gone from my life, again.

The Second Attempt

Over the next six months, things returned to normal. I opened the shop and cared for Ophelia while getting the occasional note from Nezumi. The city was making beautiful progress around that time and we all eagerly awaited the second celebration of the Day of Rebirth.

Ophelia was full of questions as she examined the world around her, and I treated her like the sharp little whip that she was.

"Papa?" she asked one day while she watched me cook, enjoying her afternoon juice box.

"Yes, Ophelia?" I replied.

"Why don't I have a mommy?"

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. It was not the first time she had asked that, and I thought that maybe she didn't understand.

"Sweetie, remember what I told you earlier this week?"

"Yes! My mommy and daddy were killed and you saved me from danger. But, why don't you have a mommy to help you?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Are you sure that you're two-years-old?"

"I'll be three soon!" she huffed and I laughed that time.

"Well… I don't have a mommy to help because we've got grandma for that, right?"

"Don't you get lonely?"

I turned my back to her and looked down at the stove timer. How could I possibly explain that I had no one because the one person I wanted refused to stay for more than five minutes, but still had the audacity to write to me about the fact people eat turtles! It was hard even for myself to deal with, pinning after something that was so far away.

"No, I have you to keep me company. And the customers, and Grandma… but sometimes people have to wait a long time to find that one person to be the mommy to help them." I took a tray of blueberry pies off the counter and was turning around to walk out into the store when there he was, leaning over the counter, watching us. Of course I had to scream and jump, which resulted in me getting covered in blueberry pies.

Nezumi laughed and Ophelia squealed joyfully as she picked up a slice of pie. "Papa, you dropped it! Can I eat it?" she asked hopefully.

"Fine, but eat it at the table and don't make a mess," I replied as I was more concentrated on picking the pie off my lap and dropping it back on the tray.

"Yay!" she ran up the stairs with the pie slice as I stood up with the tray.

"How did you get in here without the bell going off?' I huffed.

"I have my ways," Nezumi replied and chuckled softly. "Though I wasn't expecting you to drop pie all over yourself."

"What do you expect when you sneak up on someone like that?" I walked the tray over to the sink and set it down. Once again, when I turned around, Nezumi was standing right there, in my face. I had forgotten about how quick and quiet he was.

He reached up, finger tips caressing my forehead, temple, and cheek. My heart was pounding and my breath caught in my throat as he cupped my cheek, running his thumb along the mark on my face.

"Nezumi," I breathed out, hoping - no, praying - that he would just lean in and kiss me already!

But he didn't, of course. "You had blueberry sauce on your cheek," he announced and licked the sweet filling off his thumb.

My face flushed a dark red at that and I quickly turned around to clean up that dirty tray. Nezumi laughed behind me before leaning against the counter. "Your little daughter's getting big." Small talk. It wasn't really something I expected with Nezumi.

"And the bigger she gets, the more trouble she causes," I sighed in exasperation, but with a loving smile on my face. "Even when I'm mad I have never once regretted saving her."

"And you shouldn't," he replied. It surprised me a little, since he was the one who tried to stop me from saving her. "Saving that baby… it's just completely something you would do. Something so incredibly stupid, suicidal, yet brave and selfless… it just describes you perfectly."

"Thank you Nezumi… I think." I wrinkled my nose as I tried to think if it was a compliment inside an insult, or an insult within a compliment.

"Don't think to hard, you might strain yourself!"

I smacked him on the arm and left the tray to dry on the rack next to the sink. "You know, Nezumi… you could stay here, get to know Ophelia better… besides, I'm really awful at explaining Hamlet to her and she seems to just love anything about classic literature…"

I watched as my friend's face hardened and he looked at the ground. "I have to go."

"Nezumi, please…"

My sentence was cut off by his lips suddenly meeting mine. As quickly as it came, it ended and the man who held my heart left with it again.

The Third Attempt

It was almost a year since I had seen Nezumi last and Ophelia was getting close to the age to start school. Along with my usual pill bottle letter from Nezumi came another surprise. Once a month, a book would be delivered to the shop, all of them classical literature, many of which I recognized reading that exact copy when I was with Nezumi. So, I took to reading Ophelia the story she was named after,Hamlet, along with Wuthering Heights, Oedipus, Romeo and Juliet, a Tale of Two Cities, The Death of a Salesman, Crime and Punishment, and many others. Finding those books every month made the pain of Nezumi's absence a little more bearable. I knew he cared for me enough to write silly notes to let me know he was okay, but by sending those books, he was taking an interest in Ophelia as well. It made me incredibly happy to know that.

And so, I began to tell Ophelia all about the made that I loved.

"These are all his books?"

"Yes, he was a huge library full of them!"

Her eyes went wide at the thought and I knew I had made it sound more impressive than it actually was.

"As big as the town hall?"

"Not quite that big, but it was still a very impressive collection. You see, Nezumi is an actor, and the first time I saw him, he played Ophelia in Hamlet."

"But she's a girl!"

"Well, yes, but I did tell Nezumi when I first met him that he looked like a girl," I joked and she laughed.

It felt good to talk about him again, like I was reliving a pleasant memory that warmed me from the inside. Or, it could have been the sun. It was a hot day as we walked through the park.

"I'm still taller than you."

I whipped around only to find Nezumi smirking from where he stood behind us.

Ophelia smiled widely and jumped up and down in excitement. "Nezumi! You really are pretty like a girl!" she cried cheerfully.

Nezumi glared at me and I just smiled sheepishly.

"Shion, what are you teaching your daughter?" he asked.

I brushed it off with a sweep of my hand and Ophelia took that as a sign to continue. "Thank you for the books! Papa reads them to me every night! I really like Wuthering Heights."

Nezumi smiled and crouched down so they were at eye level. "Really? Why do you like that one?"

"Because it's sad that Heathcliff and Catherine are supposed to be together but they never were. Like you and Papa."

Nezumi looked up at me and I could feel my face turning every shade of red possible. Honestly, how did she even come up with things like that? I never mentioned how much I cared for Nezumi who would only stop in to say "hi" before running off again.

"Catherine dies and leaves Heathcliff miserable, you know," Nezumi continued and I avoided looking at them.

"Then don't die and make Papa sad! You should stay with us, read me Hamlet, like how Papa saw you in it!"

Finally I looked back only to find Nezumi staring at me. After when felt like hours or looking into his eyes, he spoke the words I expected, yet dreaded the most. "I have to go."

"Nezumi, I'm-" I was cut off by Nezumi slamming out lips together urgently and all I could do was respond. When he pulled away he rested our foreheads together and whispered, "Shion."

And just like that, he was gone again, but I was a little more confused than the other two times.

The Fourth Attempt

Only two months passed before I heard anything from Nezumi again. No letters came in the tiny pill bottle, no books showing up randomly at the shop. He knew this time was different than the others. The look on Nezumi's face before he left, so conflicted, sad, yearning. I wondered why he was feeling them. Clearly there was something more important in his life than me, and that was the last straw. I decided then that I would stop wasting my time on him.

And then he showed up at the shop again and it was like a stab to the heart.

"What are you doing here?" I asked when I saw him walk through the front door.

He shrugged and looked around. "I was in the area and I thought I would stop in and say 'hi'."

"Before you decide to leave again?" I muttered bitterly to myself, but he heard.

"Shion… I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"You said no more 'goodbye' kisses, but all you do is kiss me and leave."

"They're a promise to see each other again."

Another stab to the heart? Why? Why did he have to do that to me? Bring all my hopes up and then crash them back down in less than five minutes. I could feel myself unraveling, finally feeling everything I had been suppressing for three years. All the pain, loneliness, the rejection, anger, it was all bubbling to the surface because I just couldn't understand what he was trying to do me.

"Why? You only stay for a few minutes before leaving, like we're complete strangers or something! Why do you insist on doing it over and over to me?" I yelled.

I saw Nezumi look down guiltily before replying, "I knew if I stayed any longer than a few minutes, I would never leave. And I had to."

"Then why did you come at all? What could you even possibly be doing after everything that's happened? No.6 is destroyed, you've reached your dream!" I yelled out of frustration.

"But we haven't reached your's yet!" he yelled back and it effectively shut me up. "I had to keep leaving because I was helping your mother and the others reach your dream, bringing everyone together and taking down the wall between everything. The job had me running all over the place though, I only stopped in to see you whenever I was in the area…"

I sat down on a stool as I took in the information. All that time away and Nezumi had been doing something for me, once again, without me even knowing. I felt like a fool, felt awful for the way I spoke to him. "Nezumi…"

"What, you're not going to ask me to stay again? And here I thought you would go all sappy on me after learning the truth," he joked to lighten the mood.

I looked up at him wearily and shook my head. "No, Nezumi, I can't rink hearing the same response from you again."

His eyes softened as he crouched down and took my hands. "Shion… please ask me again."

I took in a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Nezumi, will you stay here, with me?"

"Yes," he replied and kissed me softly, sweetly. It was different than the other times he kissed me. Nothing was rushed or tense, just the two of us, in that moment, and nothing more.

When he pulled away I could have cried at the next words he said. "I'll stay."

The only thing I could do was pull him back in for another kiss because that irritating, arrogant, rude, wonderful, perfect, selfless, beautiful man had wrapped his arms around me and had no intention of leaving any time soon. And that was all I could ask for.

I feel like this didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to… of course they supposed to be simple little drabble, but, ya know. Oh well!

Leave a comment to tell me what you think! :3